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Banks to negotiate only with top bidder in insolvency cases  Bankers have decided that they will negotiate only with the highest bidder when resolving cases of corporate insolvency.  The decision was taken at a meeting held by the Indian Banks' Association on Monday following consultations with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India and resolution professionals. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) hasn't laid out any rules on this matter.  Conventionally, the creditors negotiate with the top few bidders to get the best value for the insolvent company.  "Since the IBC code did not specify that negotiations can be held with only the highest bidder, clarity was required given that in some cases resolution professionals and lenders entered into talks with multiple players," said a senior official aware of the developments.  Banks, however, will now follow the guidelines prescribed by the Central Vigilance ..  "This is expected to streamline t

BUDGET SHOULD FOCUS ON  ECONOMIC JOB  GROWTH, SAYS  CHIDAMBARAM The fifth and last Budget of the Narendra Modi government would need to address the problem of economic growth and meet the challenge of creating jobs, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram and former deputy chairman of the erstwhile Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Tuesday. Participating in a panel discussion after former president Pranab Mukherjee launched Chidambaram’s book, Speaking Truth to Power, a collection of his essays published in newspapers, Ahluwalia and Chidambaram disputed recent claims in a study that the Modi government created 7 million jobs. Ahluwalia termed the inferences of the study based on Employees' Provident Fund Organisation data was “flawed”. Chidambaram said the Economic Survey was “an utter confession” that in the four years the Modi government has failed to deal with three of the biggest issues — employment, education and agriculture. He said the attempt by Pulak

PM EMPLOYMENT SCHEME ALLOCATION MAY BE HALVED FinMin had informed labour min of reduction in budgetary support to PMRPY to Rs. 5 billion in RE The finance ministry may likely trim budgetary support towards the Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY), a flagship programme for incentivising job creation, substantially for the present fiscal year in the Union Budget to be presented on Thursday. Government sources said the finance ministry had informed the labour ministry of a reduction in the budgetary support towards the PMRPY to Rs. 5 billion in the Revised Estimates, from Rs. 10 billion allocated in the Union Budget 2017-18. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced the PMRPY in the Union Budget 2016-17 to incentivise employers for boosting employment generation. In this initiative, the government pays the employers’ contribution of 8.33 per cent of wages under the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) in the first three years of hiring a new employee. The EPS is adminis

 TAX SOPS TO WOO INDUSTRY SET FOR A COMEBACK A recent notification by the Assam government announcing a scheme for reimbursement of taxes paid by state-based industries has been a kin to setting the proverbial cat among the pigeons. Tax experts expect the move to trigger a race among other states to offer similar sops to woo investment.  While the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has left it to each state to come out with individual schemes for reimbursing industries that enjoyed various area-based exemptions, the sops by Assam government queers the pitch by extending these sops to new industries and those expanding their existing units. The Assam Industries (Tax Reimbursement for Eligible Units) Scheme, 2017, notified on January 19, allows eligible units reimbursement of state GST (SGST) after utilisation of the input tax credit of available SGST and integrated GST (IGST). The benefits have been extended to new units and also to those expanding existing ones. The sunset pe

 EPFO: Firms can pay dues, update ownership details Taking another step towards going paperless, retirement fund body Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Tuesday said it has launched facilities for employers to pay dues and update ownership deatils online. the EPFO has provided facility of online submission of Form 5A (Return of Ownership), it said in a statement. The EPFO added it has discontinued the physical submiion of the form. earlier, the employers had to submit a physical copy of Form 5A to the concerned EPFO feild office upon new registration of establishment and wheneverthere was any change in ownership details. Now, employers can updatre Form 5A online and submit with e-signature. This will not only reduce the unnecessary paperwork, but also avoid visits to EPFO feild offices.  The Business Standard, New Delhi, 31st January 2018 ------

Tax uncertainty over insolvency deals likely to go The government may consider resolving two of the biggest tax roadblocks looming over a successful conclusion of the insolvency process in the upcoming Budget, two people close to the development said. The government may allow carrying forward of losses for eight years for buyers of companies in the insolvency process. This is not allowed under the current tax laws and buyers have been asking for such a relief. it may also address industry fears of the income tax department challenging the valuations after the conclusion of deals. "The government allowed carrying forward of losses for eight years for the startups last year. Similar exception is being considered for deals happening in insolvency," a person close to the development said. Industry trackers said the tax outgo could be higher if the buyer of an insolvent company is unable to set off losses or carry it forward on the balance sheet. "Section 79 of th

Single GST registration for airlines, banks on the anvil The government is considering a nationwide single GST registration process for the aviation, banking and insurance sectors, people in the know of the matter said. A single registration will potentially solve a majority of the compliance problems that services companies have been complaining about. They now have to register themselves and file GST returns in every state or union territory (UT) they operate in. But the change will require the approval of the GST Council, the top decision-making body under the new tax system, where states are expected to oppose it fearing revenue loss as they have done when the proposal had come up before, tax experts said. But the change will require the approval of the GST Council, the top decision-making body under the new tax system, where states are expected to oppose it fearing revenue loss as they have done when the proposal had come up before, tax experts said. While goods-producing